“It’s time, Dimitri. For the last ten years, you’ve watched over me. You protected me, and you showed me what a man is supposed to be like, but now it’s time for me to step out from behind you. I’ve hidden long enough.”
He stared at her.
“Dorogoy, is he pressuring you?” he asked.
She loved how sweet he was, calling her darling. He always made her feel loved, but it was still time.
She kissed him on the cheek.
“No. For the first time, in a long time, he wants me the person, Dimitri. He’s in love with Anfisa. He sees her, and she’s not broken to him. She’s perfect. That’s a gift I can’t pass up. He’s the one. I know he is.”
He touched her cheek.
What was he to do?
Could he lose it, breaking the man into pieces? Yes, but who would that hurt?
Her.
She was his darling sister, and he’d promised to keep her safe.
“I need you to let me go. I’m strong enough to leave the safety of your heart and into someone else’s. You did a good job, Dimitri. You were the best man for the job, and now it’s time to give you a break.”
He always knew this day would come. When he’d returned to Russia, and found her barely alive, he swore he’d take care of her until the day he died.
His sweet sister was ready to risk it, and he had to respect that.
“If he hurts you, I’m going to hurt him.”
She laughed. “And if he loves me, then what?”
He smiled at her. She’d grown up a lot in the last ten years. She’d gone from broken girl to beautiful woman. Dimitri couldn’t lock her away.
“I’ll call him brother. I’ll love him because he loves you.”
She hugged him. “I love you, Dimitri. You were the first man I loved. You led the way. Curtis won’t hurt me. I can see a lot of you in his eyes.”
He touched her cheek.
“Be safe! Don’t do anything stupid. Protect yourself, Anfisa.”
She stared into his matching eyes. “Yes, Dad.”
Katerina walked away, but before she disappeared into the crowd, she blew him a kiss, and whispered, ‘thank you for everything, Maxmillian’.
His heart ached at the use of his real name, and the fact that everything was changing.
The baby bird just flew out of the nest, and he knew she’d never be back.
She was making her choice.
He’d respect that.
Dimitri raised his glass. “Salute, Anfisa. I love you too.”
* * * Croft & Croft * * *
Greyson Croft was forced to play politics at a function, and that pissed him off. The only reason the commissioner wanted to see him was because of the mess going on in Vegas.
He wasn’t a fool.
As he approached the man, he waited for it.
“What the hell is going on, Greyson?” Commissioner Raye asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I had a call from your boss today. Apparently, he’s concerned with what’s happening in Las Vegas. I don’t like when one of the power players in the FBI calls my office. It makes me nervous.”
Croft assumed Blackhawk was covering his bases. In his situation, he knew he would too.
“You know everything. I’m sure Emma and Chris Ford have submitted their daily reports.”
He stared at the man.
“I’m asking you.”
Greyson didn’t trust him. He had been a Fed too long. So, he told the commissioner everything, with the exception of Marianna being their top suspect. As far as the world was concerned, they were chasing a serial killer.
“What’s going on between your wife and Chris Ford? Today, on the news…”
He cut him off. “She’s not sleeping around.”
“Are you sure?”
Greyson looked insulted because he was. “I know my wife, and I trust my friend. They aren’t doing anything behind my back.”
“Son, don’t be a fool. This is Vegas.”
Ironically, another commissioner told him the same thing. He turned out to be dirty, and his wife too.
“Commissioner, what’s your point? Who my wife sleeps with is my issue, and no one else’s.”
He grabbed some champagne off a tray and Croft grabbed the one glass of bourbon.
Greyson knew that was Natasha’s sign that she was near. It was also her signal that he needed to calm down. He was pretty sure he was turning red.
He could feel the heat on his flesh.
“It’s my business. He’s her boss.”
“I’m her boss,” he said, not even worried what the man thought. As far as the world was concerned, they needed to know that in their home, he was the caveman.
“Between us, when this case is over, I’d like to move your wife to another division.”
That would kill her, and he knew it.
Emma was damn good at being a homicide cop. She didn't take the captain position when Chris had moved up because she loved her job.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
He sipped his champagne. “It’s out of my hands. The media believes that she’s getting preferential treatment, and that’s a bad thing.”
Croft wanted to kick his ass, but he knew how to play the game. In this city, money mattered.
“How much?” he asked. “I know where this is headed, so let’s not pretend.”
“Are you asking me how much to keep your wife in homicide?”
Greyson stared at him.
He hated that it had come to this.
“Is this Fed to commissioner or husband to commissioner?”
Greyson really wanted to hurt him, but Emma came first. He wasn’t shocked this was happening.
Bribes in this city were as common as the rising sun. Greyson wasn’t a fool. He simply never thought he’d be willing to offer one.
Well, he’d been wrong.
For Emma, he’d do anything.
Here was the proof.
“Name your price, Jeff. You’ll get it in cash and no one will ever be the wiser. Emma stays in the division, as does Chris. You leave them alone.”
“One million in cash.”
Greyson nodded. “Monday, arrive here and head up to my brother’s office. He will make sure the funds are made available. As long as you keep your half of the bargain, I’ll keep mine.”
Jeffery Raye lifted a brow. “And your conditions were?”
There were a million things that Greyson wanted to do to this man—starting with his violent death.
He wanted to hurt him for what he’d made him do. He wanted to light him on fire just to watch him burn.
Oh, and Greyson would love to roast marshmallows over his remains too.
If he was really lucky, he could watch the vultures pick his bones clean.
“If you bother my wife, I’ll make sure you pay.”
With that, he headed back toward his family. Only, he didn't see Commissioner Jeffery Raye pull the recorder out of his pocket and turn it off.
Had he, there would have been a bloodbath on the spot.
A violent one.
Chapter Fourteen
Curtis didn't know where they were going. When Katerina met him at the door, she had a napkin from one of the tables in her hand and a huge smile on her face.
He was curious about what she had planned.
Katerina blindfolded him and put him in an elevator. Normally, he’d fight, or argue, but he wanted to prove that he wasn’t one to freak out.
He’d seen her talking to her brother, and to Dante, and he was intrigued.
As they rode up in the elevator, she moved into his body and rubbed against him.
“You smell amazing,” she said. “Whatever you’re wearing, never change it. I feel like I’m bathing in a waterfall in the Rainforest.”
He wasn’t thinking about his cologne. He was thinking about her hands. They wandered his chest, and one was on his belt buckle.
“Katerina, where are we
going?”
Her laughter filled the elevator car. They were in the private one at the back of the hotel that only the owner used. They were alone.
Instead of answering, she pushed him back against the wall and sealed her mouth to his.
Curtis was caught off guard.
He was lost.
In the kiss, she shared everything in her.
There was heat.
There was calm.
There was her.
Just as he was about to break the kiss, her hand slid down the front of his pants and to his erection.
He tried not to, but he moaned.
She deepened the mating of mouths. The sound of his pleasure turned her on. Kat couldn’t help it. What had once been long dormant was now coming to life.
Thanks to him.
When the elevator stopped, so did the very heated kiss.
“Kat, I don’t understand,” he said, from behind the napkin tied around his head.
“I have something for you,” she offered, leading him down the hall to the penthouse suite. Once the door was open, she led him in.
“Where are we? I don’t hear music or people.”
He went to peek, and she stopped him.
“One more minute.”
Curtis gave her the chance she was asking for, and he tried to listen to everything around him for a clue.
There was nothing.
Then, she moved back toward him.
“Kat.”
The blindfold came off.
He looked around. He knew where they were. He’d been there with Greyson and Emma when they had a meeting, or when Dante needed a ride home.
They were upstairs.
“Okay, and?”
“I brought you here to make love to you.”
He didn't move.
There was the possibility that he heard her wrong, especially after what they just discussed.
“I’m sorry, what?” he asked, as she moved back against him.
“I said…”
“No, I heard you. I just don’t understand.”
She kissed him again, trying to prove her point. She wanted to offer him the only thing she had of value.
Her.
He stopped her. “Kat, no.”
She did as he asked, but her eyes filled with tears. He was rejecting her.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked. The last thing Curtis wanted was to force her into anything. He’d done that before with Brynn, and it ruined everything.
“Because I want you to touch me.”
He had to make sure.
There was no way he wanted to hurt her. If she was doing this for his need, she didn't have to do it.
He’d wait.
He’d suffer.
He’d die before hurting her.
“Kat.”
“It’s okay. If you don’t want me, I’ll stop. It was spur of the moment, and I was wrong.”
He heard it in her voice.
“This is wrong.”
She stopped moving. It was like her whole world fell in. Had she been wrong?
Curtis moved toward her. “You’re not seducing me. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, incredibly sorry that she tried.
“If you want to do this, then let me seduce you. That’s the way it should be for our first time. This is my job, not yours. Make me work for it, not you.”
Her breath caught in her chest.
“Curtis.”
“Let me do this right. If you really want to do this, then let me show you how it should be.”
She nodded.
Grabbing the blindfold, he tied it over her eyes. “Trust me. Give me a few minutes.”
She was lead to the arm of the couch, and he helped her sit. In the meantime, as she waited, he rushed around, taking care of a few things.
He found candles, and lit them.
He dimmed the lights, and then he found the jack for his phone and dropped it into the speakers.
If Kat wanted to break her man fast, they’d do the only way it should be done.
With her in mind.
Curtis would give her a night she’d never forget. After what her father and his horrible friends did to her, he wanted to change her perception of what making love and sex were.
They weren’t the same.
He wanted Kat to see how they were very different. With anyone else, it’d be sex.
With him, they’d definitely be making love.
As soon as he was done, he pulled off his tuxedo jacket and opened the collar of his shirt.
It was time to woo the girl.
As he approached her, Curtis pulled her into his arms. Gently, they swayed to the music.
Without removing the blindfold, he ran his mouth across her bare shoulder until she trembled for him. Then, he danced with her some more.
“Curtis.”
“Shhhh. Feel. Don’t talk.”
She listened. His arms were around her, and Kat felt safe. When his breath tickled her lips, she licked them. Right after, she found his mouth against hers.
Their tongues joined the dance. There was the familiar taste of him, along with the deep kiss, exploring her mouth.
It was amazing.
As the song changed, so did their dance.
He spun her out, making her gasp. When she thought she’d fall, he didn't let go of her hand.
“I have you. Making love is like dancing. You have to trust your partner.”
“I do. I absolutely trust you.”
He could tell.
Gently, he set her free.
She stood in the middle of the room, not sure where he was.
“Curtis?” she called, trying to find him. “Where are you?”
He stopped moving and stood not far from her. “I love watching you. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said, moving closer.
Something soft, petal soft, slid down her cheek. She didn't flinch.
He knew she trusted him.
Part of this was to seduce her—the rest was to see if she’d be jumpy.
Then she wasn’t ready.
Kat was definitely steady and secure. She’d made up her mind, and he was being given a gift.
“You can take it off.”
She didn't hesitate.
Immediately, she removed the napkin, to find the man standing before her. He was holding another flower. One he must have pulled from the large arrangement behind him.
He was also free of his jacket, and flooded in flickering candle light.
Her heart skipped.
“You need to decide if you really want this. Here’s your chance to choose. Your father took your freedom, but I’m giving you that back. If you want to do this, we’ll do it.”
She moved toward him.
When she reached him, she braced herself with her hand on his shoulder.
Still, he didn't move.
Then she reached down and slipped out of each heel until she was her original height. Standing in front of him, barefoot, she felt small.
“Tell me want you want.”
“Make me forget anything but you.”
His whole heart flipped upside down, along with his world. She was staring into his eyes, and he saw the truth.
Curtis handed her the flower. When she took it, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her toward the bedroom. He’d already gotten it ready.
There was a bottle of champagne, some chocolates, flower petals, and flickering candles.
Being a Croft had its advantages.
She was in awe. He could tell.
No one had ever done that for her, and that meant he was on the right track.
“Curtis,” she whispered, as he lowered her to her feet.
Instead of letting her talk, he sealed his mouth over hers. When he was done silencing her, he broke away. “If at any time, you need me to stop, just say the word. You are free to end this at any time. This is your choice.”
She nodded.
“Turn around, Katerina.”
She did as he asked. Once she was facing the bed, he began slowly lowering the zipper on the back of her dress. With each inch, she tensed, and he left a kiss on the exposed skin.
By the time he reached the bottom, she was at ease. With gentle fingers, he pushed the material off her body. It easily tumbled, falling at her bare feet.
She wore nothing but a pair of panties.
Curtis prayed for control.
Tonight, of all nights, he needed it.
“You’re so lovely.”
She didn't move. Katerina wasn’t sure what to do. She stood still, hoping Curtis would lead the way. All her sexual experiences were nightmares.
She was praying she could please him.
Turning her around, he lifted her chin until she stared into his eyes. The aqua was filled with turbulence.
“Stop me if you need to.”
She nodded.
Slowly, he began removing the pins that held her hair on top of her hair.
“You smell like roses. It’s the most amazing smell in the world. I pick up a whiff of it, and I think of you. I go to the garden to smell you when I miss seeing you around.”
Her pulse skipped.
“They’re my favorite flower.”
He was glad. They were his now too.
As the long black tendrils fell, he tipped her head to the side to reach her throat. His mouth moved across that throbbing artery, and he could feel her excitement.
Or at least that was what he hoped it was.
When she dropped the flower and leaned into him, he was sure he was on the right track.
As he tugged on her earlobe, she softly moaned.
“Curtis.”
“I’m here, baby. Let me show you how it’s supposed to be.”
“Please.”
She wanted to know.
After all this, she was curious. All that she really knew about sex she’d learned way too early, or when her brother tried to be discrete with some woman he brought to their place when she’d been younger.
Curtis walked her backward toward the bed. When she fell onto it, he stared down at her. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
She watched as he knelt between her legs on the floor. Slowly, he ran his lips up her one thigh, teasing it with the tip of his tongue.
It felt amazing.
It was heaven.
As he moved higher, she suddenly realized where he was heading.
Justice is Dead (Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 7) Page 34
